ED Chances and Questions

Colleges & Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>Hi guys, so I'm a senior for socal and am probably going to apply ED to the college of HumEc for HBHS. I'm really interested in the major as it aligns up perfectly with my interests and what I want to do, so I thought it would be best to apply it. However, I'm not so sure that my chances are very good. </p>

<p>Gender: male
Race: white or other
Income: 45k
Rank: school doesn't rank anymore, but I would be definitely in the top 10%. </p>

<p>ACT: 30 + 33(english and writing) = about a 2080 on SAT. Superscore: 32. I know I can raise this to at least a 32 or a 33. Here is my biggest worry of my application. Their range is 30-33. So is 30 way too low or not?</p>

<p>SAT II: MATH II: 800. Chem: 740. Will this mitigate some of the effects of my ACT?</p>

<p>AP: Chemistry: 4. Environmental science: 3 (ouch.). U.S. gov: 4. English Lang and Comp: 4. Biology: 3 (ouch.) Spanish Language: 4. So as you can see I have no 5s and some 3s, will this hurt my chances, considering I got an A+ in one of my 3 classes? 3 of these were self-study though. </p>

<p>Senior year course load:</p>

<p>AP English
Honors Physics
Band
AP Gov/AP Econ
AP Calculus AB
AP Spanish Lit</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA (9-11): 4.00
Weighted GPA (10-11): 4.54</p>

<ol>
<li>Co-founder and president of tech club that teaches tech across the community. 10-12.</li>
<li>Internship doing research at a local University in Orthopedics and Biomechanics 10-11. Got my data published in a manuscript if that means something. </li>
<li>President of tutoring club. 11-12. </li>
<li>Research internship at local University in Nanosystems, semiconductors, and nanotechnology. 12. </li>
<li>Section leader of section in band. 10-12. </li>
<li>High school tennis team from 9-12. </li>
<li>Internship at National Public Radio headquarters in development. 11. </li>
<li>Internship for a Congressman and Vice President for a portion of his political campaign. 11. </li>
<li>Partner at Youtube (job) where I make a few thousand dollars a year; probably won't mention this though. 9-12. </li>
<li>Lifeguard 10. </li>
<li>IT for a consulting firm. 9-12. </li>
<li>President of Cultural Club 10-12. </li>
<li>President of National Honor Society. 11-12. </li>
<li>Debate team 11-12. </li>
<li>Academic Decathlon 11-12. </li>
<li>Internship at local hospital. 11</li>
</ol>

<p>Awards:
1. Student of the month for fine arts department (band).
2. Discus Award.
3. Letter of Recognition from Congressman.
4. Letter of Commendation from PSAT.
5. Second place in the National Science League Chemistry competition.
6. AP Scholar with Distinction. </p>

<p>Idk if I forgot anything so please let me know, but thanks for taking a glance. Also, I was wondering for letters of recommendation, does Cornell have a preference for 11-12 grade teachers? Cause I have a good English teacher from 11th grade, but I also feel like I need a math/science teacher. So, I can use my AP chem teacher, but he's from 10th grade. He is the adviser for the tutor club that I'm President of, so I've kept god contact with him. Would that be okay? Anyways any suggestions or criticism are always welcome. Thanks</p>

2

<p>Just wondering, how did you get so many internships, and how long did they generally last?</p>

3

<p>Great EC’s, good GPA, below average SAT- you have a decent shot at Cornell ED. However, I think that HumEc is one of those schools that focuses on fit as well as stats, and you don’t seem to have that… Just out of curiosity, what kind of thing do you want to study, and what made you consider that (ECs, a class, etc.) You need to prove you belong at that specific college, or you will not be accepted.</p>

4

<p>A couple of observations: as you already know, your SAT / ACT is a little on the low side, if you could get your ACT to a 32 or 33 it would help. However my D was accepted into Human Ec with similair scores, so even if you don’t raise them, there is still hope. Everyone told us the same thing as you will hear “it is all about fit”. My D’s EC’s had nothing to do with her intended major (Human Development), but they demonstrated leadership (class president, varsity sports team captain, etc.) & excellence (many awards). Your AP scores will not come into play since they are not required for admission. The variables that will ultimately decide your admit appear to be: 1) Your essays 2) Your school’s rating 3) The demographic pool of other applicants. 4) Your letters of rec</p>

5

<p>Well I am an asian student in junior year. Can anyone please
review my Resume and tell me if it is any good?</p>

<p>Gpa- 4.0
SAT- not taken yet.
ECs</p>

<p>Doing edx MOOCs online. one on architecture and another on behavioral economics</p>

<p>debating (secretary). founded the club
first runner up in two interskul debates
CHess club</p>

<p>Journalism club
MUN club -Co founded the club one MUN conference attended</p>

<p>Literary achievements
editor of school magazine and newsletter
launched a literary blog
launched a round square magazine</p>

<p>Others-
chemistry award - distinction
electronic keyboard - initial, 1st and 2nd grades trinity college of london
Done several plays. Directed a few.</p>

<p>Community service-
Volunteering and 100+ hour social work</p>

<p>And there are a lot of acitivities i plan to do in these two years.
Am i going good? I still have two more years of activities!</p>

6

<p>OP, you should be fine. One of the better applications I’ve seen in terms of ECs, I don’t think the ACT should be that much of a detriment to your application.</p>

7

<p>jimmysaint, did you seriously just ask people to chance you on another persons thread? Not pretentious or anything</p>

8

<p>Thank you for the replies everyone!
@dancingqueen237
2- family connections. 4 hours per week since June of last year
4- family connections. 13 hours per week since this June.
7- family connections. 40 hours per week August 2012.
8- found myself. 5-7 hours per week June-November 2012.
16- found on my own. 3 hours per week. June through August 2012. </p>

<p>@Paintallthestuff</p>

<p>Well, the main way I plan to show my fit is through one of my parent’s alcohol addiction and how that’s essentially ignited my scientific interests, which has led me to pursue the research internships and how it got me interested in Human Biology. The major/program I want to apply for is Human Biology, Health, and society.</p>

<p>@csdad
Good to know. I was just wondering cause I got a 3 on Bio yet got an A+ in the class, is that frowned upon or not? Also, what do you mean by school’s rating and demographic pool of other applicants? For letters of recommendation, does Cornell have a preference for 11-12 grade teachers? Cause I have a good English teacher from 11th grade, but I also feel like I need a math/science teacher. So, I can use my AP chem teacher, but he’s from 10th grade. He is the adviser for the tutor club that I’m President of, so I’ve kept god contact with him. Would that be okay?</p>

<p>@bilnythesciguy Thank you</p>

9

<p>Well, I think you have a decent chance ED (high match)- that story would make a really good supplement essay, especially paired with your ECs. Good luck!</p>

10

<p>Thanks do you have any opinions regarding my letter of recommendation that I want to submit? “I was wondering for letters of recommendation, does Cornell have a preference for 11-12 grade teachers? Cause I have a good English teacher from 11th grade, but I also feel like I need a math/science teacher. So, I can use my AP chem teacher, but he’s from 10th grade. He is the adviser for the tutor club that I’m President of, so I’ve kept good contact with him. Would that be okay?”</p>

11

<p>I think the chem teacher would be ok, since he knows you both in and out of classes. But I’m no expert.</p>

12

<p>

</p>

<p>…don’t worry about the “3”, it isn’t going to keep you out. Each high school has a formal or informal rating based on your school’s admits to Cornell & other competitive colleges, Cornell will know the quality of the school’s students. Get letter of rec,. from a teacher who not only knows you well, but has a reputation of writing good letters of rec. (ask around school, your GC, etc.).</p>

13

<p>I think you have a great chance. Cornell values ecs soooooo much, along with recs and essays. They are very holistic and really only care about how well you fit the school. The numbers aren’t that important to them because they assume you have them, and the different between a 30 and a 32 doesn’t mean much to them. I got in with a 30 and low gpa, but I had great ec’s and was a good fit. I would for sure mention you are a YouTube partner. That is HUGE. I have no idea why you wouldn’t mention that. That shows so much about you and they are looking for things like that in your app.</p>

14

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</p>

<p>Be careful when generalizing one student admitted to the prospects of another. 75% of Cornell’s freshman this past year had ACT scores of over a 30. In the group of 30 and below were undoubtedly a number of recruited athletes, legacies, etc. While you are correct, it is a “holistic” admit process, having a 32 on the ACT increases your chances for admission. My D had a 31 ACT, great EC’s & letters of rec. & we were pleasantly surprised that she was admitted,</p>

15

<p>@cornellgal and @csdad thank you. </p>

<p>@paintallthestuff I’ve already kinda written my Common app essay and really focused on the addiction thing. So would it be repetitive to mention it again in the supplement for Humec? </p>

<p>Also, is anyone willing to take a look at my Common app essay?</p>

16

<p>Hmm… if you’ve already written an essay on it, then there’s no need to go in depth about it in your supplement. Just touch on it briefly by saying this is what sparked your interest in the field and spend the majority of the essay talking about how you developed those interests through EC’s/classes. And I’d be willing to read your essay- it sounds really interesting!</p>

17

<p>Sent it to you!</p>

18

<p>Check your inbox for my response :D</p>